Janna Goddestreu
Janna E. Imbergen-Goddestreu '''(full name: Johanna Emilie Imbergen-Goddestreu), commonly referred to by her maiden name '''Janna Goddestreu, is a Hulstrian Hosian Democratic politician who currently serves as the Leader of the Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund and as Staatsministerin of Hulstria and Gao-Soto. She is the granddaughter of former Governor-General, Johannes Goddestreu, who is also her namesake. A rising star in the ranks of the HDV, Janna Goddestreu became the youngest Schöffe of the city of Phönix since the September Revolution and the youngest Minister in the Lahnsteiger Cabinet upon being elected to the Reichstag in 3606. A highly visible and increasingly popular young Hosian Democratic politician, she made her name with her combative and passionate style of politics, and is seen by many as a potential successor to current HDV leader, Franziska Schäfer. Biography Early life Born to Wilhelm Goddestreu, the younger son of HDV politician Johannes Goddestreu, and his wife Leanne Goddestreu-Schreiber, Johanna Goddestreu grew up in the old city of Kien, where her father worked as a judge and later as a senior civil servant at the Department of Justice and her mother as a journalist. Her primary school classmates remember her as being a smart but rather shy girl, who nevertheless impressed her teachers with the occasional extremely well-placed remark when she did overcome her shyness. Attending the prestigious Graf Thomas Michels Gymnasium in Kien, an excellent secondary school which maintained close links with the country's leading university Heinrich University, Janna obtained her Abitur by the age of 17 and enrolled to study at that same university, studying history. Growing increasingly independent, Janna left home shortly after turning 18, first moving to a student house in Kien and later moving into an apartment in Phönix with one of her best childhood friends, avoiding the high rents charged in Kien's city centre by electing a longer commute to classes. Entry into politics As a member of the Goddestreu family, it wasn't surprising that Janna eventually joined the Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund, but she only became involved in the Hosian Democrats' politics relatively late because she felt very unsure about her political talents, even though she was a keen debater and passionate Hosian Democrat. Nevertheless, upon joining the Heinrich University chapter of the Junger Verbund, she gradually grew more active in Hosian Democratic politics, eventually serving as chairwoman of the chapter. In 3596, her university friends pushed her into becoming a candidate for the national chairmanship of the Junger Verbund, a function which she won. Becoming a prominent advocate for student interests on the national level, Janna Goddestreu was a natural choice as a candidate for the Phönix municipal wing of the HDV in the 3597 local elections, the first after she became chairwoman of the Junger Verbund. Being placed in a position viable for election if the party became part of the city government, Janna was elected on preference votes to the city council following a spirited campaign among Phönix's student population. Graduating from Heinrich University in 3599 cum laude, Janna decided to start working for the HDV's Parliamentary Party as a researcher, quickly becoming the personal researcher of HDV Leader Matiasu Fukuyama, who would teach her much about politics. At the same time, she continued her (only part-time) work on the Phönix city council, becoming the party's spokeswoman for public transport. In the run-up to the 3600 local elections, Janna was elected as the top candidate on the list, leading the local HDV to gains against a declining national trend. In the new city government, composed of HSP, LVP and HDV, Janna became the Schöffe for Planning and Transport, making her responsible for this vital economic portfolio. Seizing the national trend towards increased government involvement, Janna successfully lobbied the Crownland government for extra funds to improve the connections between Phönix and Kien, boosting commuter life within the city and becoming an unusually high-profile HDV politician in the usually more left-leaning city. Election to the Reichstag (3603-3606) With the local HSP member for Phönix Schlossviertel, Hilbrandt Furstmann, resigning citing problems with the leadership's decision to govern with the Communists, a by-election was triggered for the Wahlkreis in early 3603. Eager to win the seat, which was usually a marginal between the three Septembrist parties, with the HDV in third at some distance, for the Hosian Democrats and the Septembrists, the local Wahlkreisverein nominated the popular young alderwoman for the seat. Running on a platform emphasising local concerns and strong Septembrist ideals, Goddestreu clinched the Wahlkreis in a close-run result, becoming its first HDV MdR since the 3570s. While on the national stage, the battle between the Renewed 15th of September Movement and the far-left government raged on, Janna Goddestreu used the turmoil to consolidate her local position, sponsoring several initiatives to help her constituents and commuting to and from her apartment in Phönix. At the same time, she protested the large-scale nationalisations of the government. Minister for Infrastructure and Transport (3606-3611) The 3606 election saw Janna increase her majority to a comfortable margin against the national trend working against the HDV, holding out against a HSP surge. In an attempt to rejuvenate the party, Vize-Staatsministerin and new HDV leader Franziska Schäfer asked the then little-known backbench MdR to become the HDV's nominee for Minister of Infrastructure and Transport in the Lahnsteiger Cabinet. Having been persuaded by her grandfather, Janna accepted. Serving in the Infrastructure and Transport Department the youngest Minister in the Cabinet quickly made a name for herself beyond her age. First, she sponsored the Fahrscheingesetz which would give local authorities the power to choose the appropriate level and method of regulation for public transport fares. This caused a spat with the LVP and her Cabinet colleague Ariane von Gehrfeld, who argued fiercely against any price regulation in lieu of the national subsidy regime in place at the time. A second row with the LVP occurred when Finance Minister Harald Matsuyama proposed a 16-billion Crowns cut to her department's budget, later attributed to a miscalculation, meeting with opposition from the HDV Parliamentary Party. Going on talkshow Palzmann und Weiss, the Minister made her opposition to the cuts clear, becoming the leader of a successful HDV attempt to derail the cuts. After 5 years in government, Janna Goddestreu had established a firm reputation of a rising star within her party, becoming somewhat of a celebrity. Klubobfrau (3611-3616) In line with her new prominence, Janna became present in the national campaign, accompanying Schäfer on many visits despite the still none-too-safe margin in her constituency. As the 3611 general election delivered a decisive HDV victory, Janna increased her support in Phönix Schlossviertel, with many noting that even those who had voted for a different party list supported her as their MdR. With many considering her a potential leader-in-waiting, she was appointed as the HDV's Parliamentary Leader by Schäfer. In subsequent debates, including a high-profile debate on the new Smoking Bill presented by Health Minister Leida Weigel, Janna quickly became the face of the party, even surpassing Schäfer, who by that time many speculated would step down. Analysts observed in that period that the more her LVP policy rival, former Staatsministerin Emilia Lahnsteiger, attacked her, the more popular Goddestreu grew with the base. In the runup to the 3616 general election, Schäfer did indeed step down and Janna, as expected, was elected the HDV's new leader by an overwhelming majority, with the JuVe's giving her strong support. Going into the election on a sharp profile, attacking both Lahnsteiger and the LVP as well as the newly emerging Social Liberals of LVP defector Hans Mende, the HDV managed to hold its ground and remain the plurality party. Following the election, Janna entered into negotiations with the LVP. A coalition agreement was quickly concluded, with Matsuyama negotiating shortly before handing over to Ariane von Gehrfeld, and Goddestreu ended months of speculation by announcing that she would become the new coalition's Staatsministerin. Staatsministerin (3616-present) As the Goddestreu-I Cabinet took office, Janna Goddestreu's HDV sharpened its profile even further. Being regarded as a highly presidential Staatsminister, Janna asserted her control over the Cabinet and the party. Though the Staatsministerin necessarily left a lot of the legislative debates in the Reichstag to the rest of the frontbench and Klubobmann Franz Weile, she was still very much visible in the press. She managed to persuade the LVP to support a ban on all softdrugs except for cannabis as suggested by Leida Weigel, and worked constructively with the new Economics Minister, Sepp Holzinger, to come to a new moderate right-of-centre economic policy. In this regard, she often hit out hard at the newly-formed party Die Radikalen, which claimed to be radical centrist but was incessantly reminded by the HDV that in their eyes, they were not. Perhaps in response to the Radical challenge, Goddestreu moved the HDV even further to the political centre, describing the party in her 3620 speech to the HDV Party Conference as "das richtige Mitte" ''(the true centre), quite paradoxically sharpening its profile even further as she harshly criticised Julia Lindenkrone and another newcomer, Solidarity's Max Seigel. Going into the 3621 election on a still strong economy, many regarded Janna Goddestreu's re-election as Staatsminister as a near-certainty owing to her undiminished popularity. Politics and Ideology Unlike her grandfather, Johannes Goddestreu, Janna is not identified with the left-of-centre Schallist faction of the HDV, but is rather seen to combine many influences, making her defy classification somewhat. As is necessary to be elected in Crownland Hulstria as a HDV member, Janna is slightly more receptive to big government solutions overall, but her primary sources of political inspiration seem to be Matiasu Fukuyama, with whom she worked as a researcher, and Hosianne von Metten. In several debates, she was also seen to be on the more progressive side of the HDV, among others rejecting calls by prominent conservative MdR Beat Gubler to scrap provisions for a road to citizenship out of a special asylum bill on the situation in Dankuk. Personality Though she shares the extraordinary intelligence that runs in her family with her predecessors Sebastian Goddestreu and Johannes Goddestreu, Janna lacks the cerebral attitude that accompanies it, being more a politician than an administrator in a manner atypical to the Goddestreu family. Though she remains somewhat shy and occasionally uncertain in advance of important political occasions, she has developed a confidence in her own abilities whilst doing her job, enabling her to overcome the shyness of her youth. In public, she is a passionate and eloquent defender of Hosian Democratic principles, with an ironic and dry wit that runs in her family, but also a determination to get her way that comes from her passion for the debate - Janna delights in a challenge once she has accepted it, and getting one-up over her opponents can get important to her. Personal life Because of her young entry into politics, Janna has not married yet, in part because her busy schedule takes its toll on romance: since being appointed Schöffe, she has had a number of relationships which simply didn't work because of her devotion to her political job. At present, she is in a relationship with journalist Paul Imbergen, whom she started dating in 3605. The relationship is a stable one, in part because of her partner's encouragement in her political life: "Paul doesn't mind that I am a politician; I can come home to him and simply know that whatever I did during the day, he'll still keep supporting me."'' The couple have an infant child, named Sebastian or Sepp for short. They married in January 3614. Category:Politics of Hulstria & Gao-Soto Category:Hulstrian and Gao-Soton people